Drying Tomatoes in the Oven or the Sun
Introduction to Preserving
Freezing
Making Quick Pickles
Making Quick Jams: Refrigerator or Freezer Jam
Water-Bath Canning
How to Can Tomatoes
How to Can Pickles
How to Can Jam and Jelly
Pressure Canning
Drying
Salting and Brining
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I have dried herbs in my car. Temps were in the high 80's & 90's. I layed them out on newspaper and paper bags. It worked pretty well.
Can I dehydrate more than one kind of vegetable at the same time in the dehydrator ?
What about smoking meats as a way of preservation?
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks Farmers Almanac for all you do...
Yes, you can dry different kinds of fruits or vegetables at the same time. Just make sure that each kind passes the test for being dry. It may increase the amount of time needed to dry all of a particular kind of fruit or vegetable. If you are drying soft vegetables and hard ones at the same time, because the soft vegetables need a lower drying temperature, use the lower setting until they are all dry, then boost up the temperature to the higher setting to continue drying the hard vegetables.
I use paper bags (the large grocery size) with wooden skewer sticks. Tie a bunch (approx 5 stems) of whatever herb together with cotton string. Put two skewers through the top of the open paper bag about an 1 to 1.5 inches from each short side of the bag. tie the herb bunch (same string the herbs are tied with) to the wooden skewer so the herbs are hanging in the bag. I put two bunches on each skewer. I put the bags in a room that is not used so much and not in direct sunlight. Doesn't take too many days for the herbs to dry out. I save the same bags to use over and over (and the same string and wooden skewers too). Works great and the dried herbs look much nicer than what you would buy at the store - and taste great :-)
Great tip; thanks for sharing, Al! What is your favorite way to use your dried herbs?
EASIEST WAY TO DRY OUT FRUIT, VEGGIES OR HERBS: Rinse and let sit on paper towel for at least 1 hour, remove from paper towel and place on Cookie Sheet (w/sides) lined with aluminum foil, Place on the backseat of a hot car with the windows rolled up, and let dry (takes just a few hours) -- No Humidity in there at all. It is so easy and very eco-friendly. Sliced mushrooms, herbs, and candied orange peel are the fastest to dry out. Wet fruit takes a bit longer but is well worth the wait. I turn tomatoes with their wet halves facing downward. So Very Easy !!!
Wow! What a great idea!!!
Howdy, I live in zone 9a and have been drying fruits and vegetables and making jerky for years in my car, I put the food on racks with a layer of parchment paper, behind the back seat, point it east in the morning, then at lunch time turn the car around so the back window faces west. Opening the car to turn it around also lets the moisture out. Recently a friend gave me the book "Sailing the Farm", written in the 1908s, and the author says drying food at such high temps destroys all the nutrients! He says to limit drying temps to 120 F, and most of the year it definitely gets much hotter than that in my car. Since he doesn't give any proof for his claim, are there studies or other information on temperature and other factors to preserve nutrients when drying food?
that's 1980's not 1908!
super easy and no-expense way of drying herbs is to hang them, stem and all, upside down. Ideally you would hang them in a dark dry place, but I have also had good success hanging them in the laundry room (with door open). This year, because we weren't having any big family meals or dinner parties, I dried basil leaves and parsley heads on perforated pizza trays in my dining room. Oh, and I dried a few bunches of lovage (the "soup" herb) that way too. It doesn't take long, maybe a week if I flip them once in awhile, or two if I ignore them. The fresh thyme and dill and green onion that I can't use in my fresh goat cheese I toss, stem and all, into a mesh strainer I always have in the corner of my kitchen counter, and they dry very quickly all by themselves. I have had good success drying jalapeno peppers by hanging them on strings so they look like Christmas lights, but found that in my house it works best if I slice/quarter the fleshy parts not-quite up to the stem and then hang them.